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Cotton pest beaten by smart spraying

By Rachel Nowak

THROUGH the 1980s and 90s, the bollworm caterpillar seemed intent on destroying the crops and livelihoods of millions of India’s cotton farmers. Bollworms were becoming increasingly resistant to insecticide, and hundreds of suicides by farmers prompted several government inquiries, the latest in 1998.

Now, thanks to a relatively low-tech approach to managing insecticide use that combines understanding of insect biology with that of human nature, cotton is once again profitable for tens of thousands of farmers.

The nationwide programme tells farmers which type of insecticide to use and when best to use it, so that during each …